Even I, as someone who was handsomely paid in my days as a Canadian network news anchor, and who turned down even more to go to an American network, was surprised at some of the anchor salary numbers tossed around in this story.
A little background first. When CNN started in the summer of 1980, it was pretty much a shoestring operation trying to make a name for itself. Initially, the name it made wasn’t that big a deal. At international events, no huge fancy sets like the big three American networks had, no legions of reporters and behind-the-camera staff to cover the stories.
For example, in the summer of 1981, I remember sharing a tiny platform, with boards roughly nailed together, just outside Buckingham Palace in London. I shared it with CNN’s first female anchor, Kathleen Sullivan, doing live hits on our respective shows covering the wedding of Charles and Diana. Between hits, we’d laugh and envy the extravagant, air-conditioned, glassed-in, couch-walled temporary studios that the world’s biggest networks had built around us.
But it didn’t take long for CNN to get into the game of big-time, big-network television. And they deserved it. In just a few years, their ranks had grown and their international reputation had as well. They covered stories around the world like no one else with the possible exception of the BBC. Their stars became well-known and started making significant salaries because of their status. I remember being at an international conference in Halifax where crowds outside waiting for a glimpse of the world leaders in attendance were screaming for “Wolf” and you know who I mean. No one was screaming “Peter” or “Lloyd” or even “Duffy”!
American network salaries have always been higher than their Canadian counterparts but not every network and not every journalist. And to be honest, in their heyday, they were all pretty generous.
But those were different days than today where all networks are suffering in a very different television landscape. And as a result, jobs and salaries are about to suffer as well as new managers arrive and consider slashing jobs and some eye-popping salary numbers. Emily Smith has this for The Wrap:
